New baseball field nears completion – Daily Comet

All that remains of the new complex, which district officials and board members have hailed as the finest in the state, is lawn maintenance in the outfield and the installation of lights for the field.

The complex was relocated from Terrebonne High School to nearby Southdown Stadium off St. Charles Street near Tunnel Boulevard to make room for a 5.19-acre drainage and water retention basin. Parish government paid $561,000 of the $631,870 project.

“You talk about the amount of money we’re spending on it, there’s no other stadium in this area that’s worth that amount of money,” School Board member Greg Harding said. “It’ll be the premier complex in the area, if not the state.”

Handling the construction of the field has been Baton Rouge-based Geo-surfaces Inc., the same company that worked on Alex Box Stadium, home of LSU’s baseball team, as well as several local fields in Lafourche Parish, including E.D. White Catholic High School’s football stadium.

The project calls for the parish to remove the track behind Southdown Stadium, just behind the elementary school, and reconfigure the field with new artificial turf and new lights for use by the Terrebonne High’s baseball team.

Following renovation, the stadium property will be the home of a state-of-the art sports complex with Terrebonne High’s new diamond and Southdown’s football field.

Terrebonne school Superintendent Philip Martin gushed about the stadium when asked how he thought it turned out.

“When I tell you it is absolutely gorgeous, I mean I am so pleased with it. It’s like wow. It exceeds our expectations,” he said.

Because of the field’s unique artificial turf diamond and natural grass outfield, there won’t be as much wear and tear to the field. Harding said it should be able to withstand tournaments and will cut down on rain delays.

“The way the drainage and the field are, you can still play a game in this rain 15-20 minutes later. Compared to a regular field, you might get rained out or have a three- to four-hour delay,” he said.

The Terrebonne High baseball team will play at the field on March 1. Martin hopes to hold a grand opening ceremony the day of the game.

“We want to invite all alumni of Terrebonne baseball, Southdown. Make it a real hot dog and apple pie kind of evening,” Martin said.

He said he hopes to also have a fireworks show at the game.